· January, 2010

Stories about War & Conflict from January, 2010

Serbia, Russia: Author Awarded for Book on Ratko Mladić

  31 January 2010

A Slice Of Serbian Politics reports on the award given by the Union of Russian Writers to Ljiljana Bulatović for her book “Report to the General”: “Ljiljana was awarded in the ‘Slav Fraternity’ category with the ‘Imperial Culture’ award for, as it is stated, ‘her courage, commitment, and unswerving dedication...

Afghanistan: Behind the London Conference

  31 January 2010

Dafydd watches the London international conference on Afghanistan and opines that the organisers’ new strategy for this country involves buying off low level Taliban fighters and cutting a deal with more senior figures via amnesty of relatively senior figures from the pre 2001 Taliban regime.

Palestine: The Commodification Of Gaza

  27 January 2010

Exiled is a blogger who recently left Gaza - and he is in no hurry to return. In this translation of a recent post of his, we hear his opinions about political propaganda and self-interest, the tunnels to Egypt and the planned steel fence, and the nature of the outside world's concern for the Gaza Strip.

Nigeria: Bloggers discuss the massacre in Jos

  26 January 2010

On January 17th, violence erupted in the central Nigerian city of Jos. In the following hours, reports of the conflict spread as witnesses reported mobs armed with knives and machetes roving among burning houses, mosques, and churches. The conflict is ostensibly sectarian: Jos is a major city along Nigeria's “Middle Belt” – the fault line which divides the country's Christian-majority south from its Muslim-majority north.

Timor Police Brutality Video

  25 January 2010

Police brutality in Timor-Leste is not new, but getting it on video is. This is something of a “Rodney King” moment for Timor-Leste and its police service.

Sudan's First LGBT Rights Organization?

  24 January 2010

Throughout 2009, the Sudanese blogosphere has been in slumber mode. However, many previously inactive bloggers are blogging again along with new ones that have arrived on the scene recently, writes Sudanese Drima, who brings us the latest online discussions.

Armenia/Azerbaijan: From Home to Home

  23 January 2010

Global Voices Online's Caucasus editor interviews journalist Seda Muradyan on her documentary film, From Home to Home, for the Frontline Club blog. The film tells of how Armenians and Azerbaijanis in two villages made an extraordinary deal as the conflict over Nagorno Karabakh flared up.

Turkey: Solve the Hrant Dink case…

  20 January 2010

Erkan's Field Diary comments on the case of Hrant Dink, an ethnic Armenian journalist who was assassinated in broad daylight in Istanbul, Turkey, three years ago this week. The blog says that if the authorities actually solved the case completely they would also solve that of another — the controversial...

Afghanistan: Youth Find Outlets Amid Ongoing Violence

  20 January 2010

Last year was the deadliest one for Afghanistan's civilians, including children, since the American-led war began in 2001. Despite the circumstances, efforts are being made nationwide by and for youth to maintain their health and education and to empower them.

Turkey: Third anniversary of Hrant Dink assassination

  19 January 2010

Three years ago today, Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was gunned down outside the office of the Argos newspaper he edited in Istanbul, Turkey. Often ignored, loathed or detested when he was alive by nationalists on both sides for his message of tolerance and peace, one blogger compares Dink to Martin Luther King Jr.

Georgia: Patriotic military classes

  18 January 2010

In the latest edition of Caucasus Watch, a bi-monthly feature of the blog-based Evolutsia, Inge Snip takes exception to a proposal from the Georgian president to introduce patriotic-military classes in schools. Although the blog recognizes the importance of a country such as Georgia being able to defend itself, it says...

Nigeria: Nigerian bloggers take on would-be bomber Umar Abdulmutallab

  15 January 2010

On December 25th, the world was taken by surprise when news broke that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian citizen, had nearly succeeded in detonating explosives on a Northwest Airlines flight between Amsterdam and Detroit. At first, many Nigerians reacted with shock and disbelief, some even doubting whether Abdulmutallab was truly a Nigerian.